The wandering thoughts of a mother, wife, sister, daughter, friend, volunteer and crazy dog lady.
Come, sit, have a cup of tea with a smidge of dog hair, while I talk kids, dogs, horses, 4-H, legislation and well, just anything else that jumps out at me.

Friday, August 26, 2011

Tripping down memory lane

It most certainly doesn’t seem like a year has passed, but as I work on getting the final touches of our annual cluster show done, I vividly remember being exhausted last year at this time.

So here’s a little trip-there is no way to walk down this memory lane as well as updates on the infamous Dozen.

Known as the Space/Sci Fi themed litter though unofficially called the Dirty Dozen, 12 lovely puppies arrived on August 27th via emergeny c-section. Abbey, poor poor Abbey, endured weeks of crate rest and gaining almost 18 extra pounds. Russ is the proud papa offering moral support, though Abbey did request that they not do this again.

There were hours of supplemental feedings, 72 hours of worry about Abbey who was drained, literally. But within 10 days all were eating on their own and it only got worse from there. Imagine 12 puppies escaping the whelping box at once? Or how about moving them to the puppy pen in the study and the noise? Actually the current 4 monsters make more noise J We routinely found 8 or 9 puppies crashed and packed like sardines in one crate, though a few found sleeping in the food dish or the litter pan(Charlie) was more appropriate.

We did manage to find the most perfect new homes for the Dozen.
Here’s a few updates:

The big red brindle boy that everyone wanted-we called him Jr as he was Moose all over again, is now Buddy and living in TN with his water loving Uncle Chopper. Spoiled does not even begin to describe this boy.
Sam, formerly Drew, is now in the SE corner of Iowa being the best bud of our good friend Dan. Never meets a dog he doesn’t like or a human that he can’t bribe a treat from.
Our mismark girl, Beverly is now Anna and her brother formerly Connor is now Tristan, are diehard Hawkeye fans and live in IN. We are hoping to see them this fall when they came back for a football game.
The other pair of Einstein and Percy, run an very successful organic farm, restaurant, event center and market in IL. They have a great family that dotes on them and we go and visit when in the area for dog shows.
Luna, the other girl is now Joria and lives with a very handsome blue merle cardigan named Frankie in Southern IL.
The lone tri colored boy, Walt, is now in the Air Force, and spends time between flying missions from his base in Colorado, at home with his family including wonderful boys who think he’s just perfect.
Adolph, now Gryffin, one of the triplet brindle boys, is happily entering his other cardigan friends in Il with Heather and her family.

Then there’s the other two of the triplets:
Max, who was James, is up in WI with Liz and her family. His ultimate goal is to be the best darn agility dog and get every title under the sun in obedience. But first, he’s got his majors and just needs a few single points to finish his Championship! No pressure now Liz!

Chipster, or Ruffles Jr, the very image of his father, is growing up in MN with Shelley and her herd of corgis. He’s almost ½ way to his championship and searching for majors inbetween being a star on YouTube with his e-collar antics.

Last but certainly not least is Charlie. He chose to stay right here and be mentored by his mom. Not a good thing if you hate barking and running and chasing of the poultry. Charlie is, well, different. The joke is that he hears voices and that sometimes lands him in trouble. In search of his last major, hoping this fall yet, Charlie Bear is a loveable lug who’s certainly his father’s son-man he’s a picky eater!

Photos please for all those who read the blog that are owned by a Dirty Dozen member. Hoping that in the following week that I can show you just how handsome they all are!

3 comments:

Cindy, this blog post is so nice! I'm so thrilled to have Max. If he doesn't get a single title he will still be my super sweet cuddly boy. He is a very special addition to our family, and we're so glad to have him. Thank you.